


Killer Killer

by Gypsywriter135



Category: Free!
Genre: Angst, Gen, OOC I guess, Spirit Animals, There's a reason Makoto is an orca
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-26
Updated: 2013-08-26
Packaged: 2017-12-24 17:59:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/942957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gypsywriter135/pseuds/Gypsywriter135
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The thing about orcas was they liked to play with their food before eating it.</p>
<p>Or, the one where Rin forgets why, exactly, Makoto’s spirit animal is a Killer Whale.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Killer Killer

**Author's Note:**

> Just something that popped into my head.
> 
> Not beta'd or proofread. Read at your own risk.

When he turns on the TV and sees a documentary about Killer Whale, Rin, for some unknown reason, just can’t seem to turn the channel. So he sits on his bed and watches the fish perform tricks with their trainers at Sea World. He sees them dutifully follow their humans orders and watches them happily accept the love and affection that the trainers give them.

But after the commercial, the show turns to the wild.

Apparently in the wild, Orcas will push and shove their food around, toying with it as they let it escape their grip for a moment. They give it hope before grabbing it and trapping it against their will, torturing it before repeating the process until the poor animal is out of energy.

The orca strikes, and the prey is practically consumed whole.

Rin stares at the television as the credits roll with wide eyes as he remembers something very important.

When they were younger, Nagisa gave them all spirit animals. The blonde boy got a penguin, because they were his favorite. Haruka was a dolphin, for obvious reasons. Rin’s was crowned a shark, something that he thought fitted him a little too well sometimes.

But Makoto…

Makoto’s animal is an Orca. _Orcinus orca_. Killer Killer.

And according to the documentary, Killer Whales are, aside from humans, the only animal known to kill for revenge.

Rin gulps and jumps when his phone vibrates. His eyes widen when he sees Makoto’s name on his Caller ID screen.

He’s a dead man.

He lets the call go to voicemail, and thankfully, Makoto doesn’t call again. Biting his lip, Rin picks up the phone and holds it to his ear, listening to the other boy’s message.

“ _Rin? It’s Makoto_.” His voice is soft, as usually, but only in volume. There’s something else hidden underneath that makes Rin shiver. “ _I talked to Haru, and he told me what you said_.” Of course he did; Rin never had any doubts about that. “ _He’s pretty upset about the race, even if he won’t come out and say so_.” Rin knows that part is true, too. “ _Listen, I’ll just keep this short. Do you think you and I could have lunch sometime this weekend?”_ Rin stares ahead, listening. “ _I just want to talk. I won’t even tell Haru. Just… meet me at the café on Sunday? Let me know what time works best for you.”_ Makoto pauses for a moment, and Rin holds his breath. _“See ya’,”_ is all he says, and the message ends.

Oh, yes. Rin is a dead man.

* * *

Makoto left his message Sunday night, which gives Rin a full week to think about the message.

Of course, this means that he doesn’t reply right away. Oh, no. Say what you want about him, but Rin knows when he’s in trouble. 

And right now, he’s in deep shit.

He’s not really sure what this thing between him and Haruka is, but all he knows is that it matters. It mattered enough for him to leave, enough for him to become a Great Big Dick, complete with capital letters. He let his ego and his pride and his general Dickishness get in the way of actually being a decent person to the people who he once called friends.

Damn him. 

But Rin knows this, and, despite his outward attitude, he does still care for his friends. He doesn’t want anything bad to happen to them or to make them feel bad. 

The only problem is that Rin is bad at words, often using his own flexibility to put his own foot into his mouth. Fortunately for him, Haruka’s just about as good with words. Unfortunately, this can have some negative consequences. Just see Exhibit A: His Current Predicament. So he got a little too excited after the race and instead of explaining the entire situation to Haruka, Rin let’s his mouth run wild and he cuts the rope with the bait on it, swallowing it whole.

Sharks don’t have a gag reflex.

It wouldn’t be a problem if he had someone who could translate for him, like Makoto does for Haruka. The damn kid can practically read Haruka like an open book when all Rin sees is just the same damn page no matter which way he turns the paper.

If he had looked a little harder, maybe he’d seen the huge stamp that said “Under protection of Makoto Tachibana” and he could have avoided this entire mess.

Rin understands a little better that whole saying “If you can’t say anything nice, then don’t say anything at all.” Maybe that’s why Haruka doesn’t talk much. Makoto sugar coats it enough so he doesn’t have to.

But now he’s got seven whole days to think about what he’s going to do.

No, you know what? He _knows_ what he is going to do. He’s a man now, an adult who is comfortable in the decisions he has made and mature enough to deal with the consequences, no matter how harsh they are.

Which is why he’s currently hiding out in his room.

Nitori is knocking on the door in a panic, but Rin ignores him. He may or may not have barricaded the door shut.

He’s listened to Makoto’s message four times since last night, trying to place the exact tone of his voice. But whenever he thinks he’s getting close, it slips out of his grasp. It’s not anger, or worry, or regret, or compassion, or anxiousness, all of which a normal freaking person would be expressing.

But it seems that Makoto is not only a master at words, but also at controlling how they sound.

Damn bastard.

Rin stares at his computer screen for a moment, which is currently displaying an article about a shark attack off the coast of Australia, before his fingers seem to move of their own accord. He opens a new window and heads to his search engine, where he types in “orcas” and waits for the results.

He clicks on the first link, not really caring or knowing what he’s looking for. 

The article tells of the orcas in captivity, names them and their shows. It explains their tricks. 

But as the page goes on, there is mention of the dangers of orcas.

Killer whales have been known to attack, kill, and eat Great White Sharks.

Rin slams his computer shut and pushes it away.

Yup, he’s dead.

* * *

The next day, Rin sends a confirmation text to Makoto, giving him a time to meet. He’s a man, dammit. He will face his doom and he will do so with dignity and grace.

When Makoto’s response comes back, it’s just a smiley face. 

Rin gulps and throws his phone across the room like it burned him Nitori gives him a perplexed look.

Rin hasn’t told him. Poor kid; he’s gotten attached to Rin in the few months, and now Rin is going to die.

Hopefully it’s not too traumatizing for the kid.

He should call Gou and his mother, arrange funeral preparations, send out notices. He’ll leave his comics to his cousin, maybe give Haruka his favorite pair of goggles, as an apology.

Makoto gets nothing because the bastard is going to be his murderer.

Apparently, orcas are the apex predator of the sea.

* * *

On Wednesday, Rin pretends he’s sick and stays in bed all day. If these are his last days on earth, he wants to have a day where he get’s to relax.

Except he spends it researching killer whales online. Maybe if he knows his enemy, he’ll stand a chance.

Everything he finds gives him no hope.

Killer whales are smart, organized, and very, _very_ protective.

* * *

Rin remembers when they were younger, before he moves to Australia, the fight they all got into.

It had been right after his father had died, and Rin was a little on edge. He’d been focusing all his energy on getting Haruka to race with him, to blow off steam, while Nagisa played with the kids in the kiddy pool and Makoto watches from the edge of the pool.

Haruka had just gotten out of the water when another team showed up. They were the same age, but for some reason were jerks and decided that they got the whole pool just because they won the relay race three years in a row. 

Naturally, Rin crawled out of the water and got right up in their faces, much to Haruka’s disinterest and Makoto’s protests.

Somehow-Rin doesn’t remember, the details are a little hazy-things got physical and he and Haruka had taken a tumble into the pool. 

It wasn’t a big deal, but the shock of it caused them to inhale more water than air and so they came up gasping for breath. When they could focus again, the other kids were in the water, all sporting bruises and split lips and cut cheeks and black eyes.

Makoto stood on the tiles, face angry and fists bloody, with not a scratch on him.

Rin still doesn’t know exactly what happened, because Makoto slipped back into his normal self as soon as he saw his friends were okay.

But Rin remembers the kids apologized and never bothered them again.

Now, Rin’s fairly sure that he doesn’t want to piss off Makoto.

And that’s exactly what he did. 

_Orcinus_ is derived from Orcus, the Roman God of Death.

* * *

It’s Friday when Rin get’s a text from Makoto, asking if they meet tomorrow instead of Sunday. Apparently, Haruka is going with Nagisa and some kid named Rei to the school swimming pool to practice, which give Makoto more time than on Sunday

Apparently, Rin is a masochist, because he agrees. 

Then he gets a text saying to meet Makoto at the Rec Center, and to bring his swimsuit. 

Rin texts back an affirmative, mentally smacking his head against a wall repeatedly at his own stupidity. He can’t ask Gou to go with him, because she’s going out with friends of her own. Nitori’s gone home for the weekened. Rin has no other friends.

He can only hope there are other people at the Rec, so at least he feels better knowing there’ll be witnesses there to see his death.

Killer whales have been seen drowning Blue Whales.

* * *

When Rin arrives at the Rec Center on Saturday, his duffle bag thrown over his shoulder, he has the brief urge to turn tail and run

Has Makoto _always_ been that huge? How broad can a teenager’s shoulders get? There is no way that Makoto is that tall; he has to be wearing platform shoes or standing on something. And, oh, my God, his hands are as big as Rin’s face.

“Thanks for coming,” Makoto says in that same tone he had on the phone, a smile Rin can’t place on his face. 

“Yeah, sure,” Rin replies as they begin walking inside. He eyes the other people, gauging how many people will witness his death.

“Sorry for the last minute changes,” Makoto tells him. “I just figured that this would be better in the long run.”

Yeah, long run to the bright white light. 

Quiet descends over them, and it’s awkward and Rin has to practically jog to keep up with Makoto’s easy-going stride- _there is absolutely no way he is this big!_

They get to the locker room and change quickly. Rin can’t help but stare at Makoto’s chest and back, because while he and the rest of their little team may be out of shape, that doesn’t mean they’re _out of shape_. Haruka still had his swimmer’s body, but Makoto… 

Someone’s been actively working out, and not just in the swimming sense because _there’s no fricking way, Tachibana!_

Makoto is either unaware ( _Uh, huh, yeah right._ Rin begins to think that Makoto’s not as oblivious as he makes others believe he is) or ignores Rin’s ogling and turns back to him with a towel over his shoulders.

“You’ve been practicing since the race, right?” he asks with a small smile and a tilt of his head.

Rin scoffs, rolls his eyes. “Yeah, of course. Seijuro still makes us practice even after we’ve won the races.”

Makoto’s smile widens. “Good!” he chirps.

Rin swallows, and no, he is not afraid as he watches one of his potential witnesses leave the room. He is growing more terrifying as this goes on. He remembers how orcas throw their food in the air to mortally wound it.

“We gonna race or something?” Rin asks. “Because let me tell you, you’ll lose that strategy.”

Makoto’s smile turns sinister. “Oh, really?”

Rin’s mind supplies that no matter how big sharks get, orcas are always bigger. But his brain has no filter, so his mouth just runs rampant.

“Look, I don’t know what Haruka told you, but I meant it,” Rin says with a sharky grin and _oh, my God, just stop talking, you idiot_. “And I’m never going to swim with him again.”

Makoto stays silent. The last person that could possibly save Rin from a terrible death walks out the door. The sandy-haired teen reacts with lightening speed and raises his fist, punching Rin solidly in the jaw. Rin staggers backwards, surprised from the blow, before another fist collides with his abdoment. And while Rin is sporting a strong stomach, apparently Makoto’s fists are made of freaking iron because he goes down.

 “Let’s play a game,” he says with a shudder-inducing smile. He reaches down and grabs the goggles hanging loosely off Rin’s neck and drags him close to his face. Rin’s frozen.

“We race,” Makoto sneers, and this is an expression that Rin has never seen on the taller boy’s face before and he’s adequately terrified. “I win, you apologize to Haruka and explain what all this bullshit is about.”

Rin knew where this was going; Makoto’s a little predictable when it comes to Haruka’s well-being. But Rin is still Rin, and while Makoto may be scary, Rin’s a shark, dammit, and he’s not going down without a fight. Makoto may be a good swimmer, but he’s no Haruka; Rin’s got this in the bag. He bares his teeth and shoves Makoto’s grip off him.

“And if I win?” he asks. 

Makoto towers over him, angry frown on his face. “We pretend this never happened and I leave you alone,” he responds. Rin’s in process of nodding his agreement when Makoto interrupts with, “And I don’t hit you again." 

Rin should take this. Rin’s mind is _screaming_ for him to take this deal because he’s got this in the bag and for possibly the first time in his life, his mouth listens to his brain and agrees. Makoto nods, grabs his own pair of goggles and walks out of the locker room. Rin is left standing there for a moment before he hurriedly follows.

They stretch when the reach the side of the pool. A few other people are swimming lazily in their own lanes, but there are still many empty ones. As Rin sits down and elongates his legs, feeling the pleasant burn of his muscles loosening, he glances over at Makoto.

_Holy shit,_ his mind supplies as Makoto’s biceps seem to practically bulge out of his freaking skin.

He can kind of appreciate Gou’s apparent taste for the male body at this moment.

Makoto looks over at his staring and nods once.

“Ready?” he asks.

“Whenever you are,” Rin replies, standing and stretching out his back one last time. 

They head over to two empty lanes that are side by side, a little ways from the other swimmers, and mount the starting block. Rin slips his goggles on, pulling on the strap on the back of his head and letting it hit his cap.

“We race 400 meters,” Makoto tells him, and Rin internally cheers. “Doesn’t matter which stroke. First one to hit the wall at the end wins.”

If Makoto thinks he can beat him based on stamina instead of stroke power, then he’s fooled himself. Rin’s still in better condition in him, and he’s got all that fancy schooling from Australia up his sleeve. He’s got this.

“You’re on,” Rin says, and gets into position. “Get ready to eat my wake.”

There’s his filter, failing him once again. 

The toothy grin Makoto gives him sends a shudder through his body and he remembers that killer whales have a full mouth of teeth that can sometimes be more deadly than a sharks.

“Ready?” Makoto asks, and his eyes narrow behind his goggles. “Set.” Rin tenses his body, coiled up like a spring. “Go!”

The two shoot off the platform and hit the water seamlessly. Rin does a front crawl, and when he looks over, he’s unsurprised that Makoto is doing the backstroke; old habits die hard. And while Makoto may be bigger, Rin’s legs are still stronger, and he easily pulls away in a few strokes.

The pool is 50 meters long, which means they each have to do eight laps to reach 400 meters. Rin hits the back wall first, easily switching directions. When he’s two strokes from it, he notices that Makoto is just hitting the wall. He grins. He’s got this in the bag.

Except now there’s a sudden blur to his side, and when he looks over, Makoto’s long arm is the only thing in his vision and _how did he catch up that fast?_ Rin internally growls and pushes forward, pulling ahead of Makoto in a few strokes. He pushes himself and by the time he reaches the wall and turns, Makoto’s only halfway across the pool; Rin passes him on the return trip.

He’s a quarter down and there’s no way he can lose.

Except he can’t seem to pull any farther away from Makoto; the two stubbornly stay the same distance apart for another three laps.

They’ve got three laps to go, and when Rin switches direction, Makoto is suddenly beside him, turning with him at the same time.

Rin can’t shake him as they swim, no matter how hard he swims or how fast he kicks or how long his arms stretch. Makoto is always right besides him.

As they enter the seventh lap, Rin recalls everything he knows about orcas. He remembers that they don’t migrate, but they do travel hundreds of miles just for food. They can eat sharks. They’re protective. They have no natural enemies. They are the most intelligent and terrifying and dangerous animal to grace the ocean, possibly even more-so than sharks.

They reach the wall at the same time, and Rin swims with all his might, but Makoto easily takes the lead and _how is that even possible_ because Rin’s beaten Haruka and Haruka is a fast swimmer and this is Makoto and he’s only doing the _backstroke_.

But all Rin can see is the little waves left by Makoto’s strong strokes and that’s when he remembers that orcas like to play with their food. They like to give their prey false hope, a sense of _I can escape!_ before they make the final kill.

And as Makoto’s hands hit the wall for the final time a full seven seconds before Rin’s, Rin gulps for air as he pulls his goggles off, staring wide-eyed at Makoto. Makoto, who had placed second in his race at the preliminaries. Makoto, who doesn’t like water. Makoto, who shouldn’t be able to move so fast for being so big.

He’s barely got time to think about where he went wrong, because suddenly there’s a fist flying at his face. Rin doesn’t have time to duck or move out of the way, and he practically hangs off the ropes as he clutches his face. Yes, his face because while Makoto aimed for the side, his hand is huge and now Rin’s going to have a black eye in addition to his bloody nose.

“Haruka will be home all day tomorrow,” he hears Makoto say dangerously. He watches his blood drip into the clear pool water as the other boy climbs out of the pool.

His hand is bloody and the red won’t stop and as Makoto walks away, Rin is thankful they didn’t do this in the ocean, otherwise, he’d attract real sharks with this blood.

Thank God for small miracles.

When Rin finally gets his bleeding out of control and heads back to the locker room, Makoto is already gone.

Based on what he knows about Killer Whales, Rin guesses that he should be lucky that he managed to escape alive, if not unscathed.

**Author's Note:**

> Orcas are fucking terrifying and if you don't believe me, then I suggest you research them because damn, I'd rather get into the ocean with a Great White than a Killer Whale.


End file.
